AURORA, IL - The University of Illinois Springfield volleyball team fell to Northwood in straight sets Saturday at the MIzuno Midwest Regional Crossover at the Great Lakes Center.
The BasicsThe Result: Northwood 3-0 (25-15, -19, -18)
Records: Northwood (8-12), UIS (5-17)
Location: Aurora, Ill. - Great Lakes Center
UIS Top Performers- Nora Palermo (West Chicago, Ill.): team-high five kills and a .333 hitting percentage.
- Lexi Hall (Champaign, Ill.): dished out a team-high 11 assists. Also added seven digs.
- Kayla Katarzynski (Winfield, Ill.): collected 13 digs without a reception error.
How It Happened- The Prairie Stars found themselves ahead early in the first set, 3-2, after a pair of errors by Northwood. The Timberwolves quickly took back the lead with an 11-2 run, making the score 13-5. Northwood extended its lead to as many as 11 and captured the first set, 25-15.
- UIS fought back in what turned out to be a very tight second set. In the second stanza there were 11 ties and six lead changes. A kill by Nora Palermo cut the UIS deficit to just two, 21-19, late in the set. The Timberwolves scored the next four points to win the second set, 25-19.
- After falling behind 3-0 in the third set, the Prairie Stars responded with a 3-0 run of their own capped off by a kill from senior Heather Smack (St. Louis, Mo.). With the score tied 4-4, Northwood put together another run, this time a 4-0 run to take an 8-4 lead. The Prairie Stars again responded with a 4-0 run of their own to tie the game at eight.
- Both squads went on 4-0 runs again and the score was tied 15-15 and 17-17. Six straight points and eight of the next nine points gave Northwood the set, 25-18, and the match, 3-0.
Coming Up Next- The Prairie Stars return to Springfield to host Lewis next Friday.
